Tabula nova Candiae

Rare, early woodcut map of Crete from the 1541 edition of Ptolemy's Geographia with maps by Laurent Fries, text by Michael Servetus, and published by Gaspar Treschel. This map, which was reduced by Fries from an earlier 1513 map of the island by Martin Waldseemuller, was first published in 1522, and appeared in all four Fries editions of the Geographia (1522, 1525, 1535, and 1541). As the title suggests, this map is based on contemporary knowledge of the island rather than on Ptolemy's classical knowledge. At the time of this map's publication, Crete was still an important Venetian trading colony, but just 30 years later is was conquered by the Ottomans and remained under their rule until the early-20th century.